A 29 year old driver, Mr. Mayowa Alabi, has told journalists in Lagos how he stole his master’s Automated Teller Machine (ATM ) card and withdrew N2.7million.
Alabi , who was paraded yesterday at the Lagos State Police Command Headquarters, Ikeja, said he only bought a Black Berry phone from the money while the remaining was spent on women and clubbing.
The suspect was arrested along with his friends, Jeremiah Ibitoye(26 ) and Opeoluwa John(18).
The state Police Commissioner, Fatai Owoseni , said during the parade that Alabi’s boss had been complaining about his misplaced ATM card for some days.
But when Alabi saw it, instead of returning it, he kept it to himself.
He said: “The driver deactivated the ATM card and sim card of his boss and changed the pin of the card, which barred the owner from receiving alert and even calls.
After a while, the real owner discovered that calls and messages were not coming through his phone.
“He then contacted the service provider who told him that his line had been deactivated from receiving calls and messages.
Immediately, he reported to the police who swung into action and discovered that it was his driver and his (Alabi’s) friends who hacked into his account and phone line.”
But Alabi said it was greed which pushed him into what he did. He said: “My boss is a nice person. I just wanted to practise what I learnt from the computer training I went for.
I am earning N30,000 monthly salary . All I bought from the stolen money was a Black Berry, another phone, wristwatches and laptop.
I spent the remaining money to party in club and on women. “I regret my action. I beg my parents to forgive me for bringing shame and disgrace to them.
I promise to pay the money with my salary if I get out the problem. ” John , who is a generator mechanic, said Alabi gave him the ATM card to buy phones, laptops and some other items at a popular mall.
He said: “I do not know anything about the card cloning. I agreed to go on the errand because he used to help me whenever I needed his assistance. I just left secondary school last year.
“My parents are not aware that I am in the custody of the police. I feel very bad finding myself in this situation. I hope I will get out of here soon because my mates are in the university and I desire to join them there.”
Ibitoye also denied knowing anything about the cloning of the ATM card. He said: “Alabi only called me to take John to the ATM to withdraw money and buy things for himself. ” Owoseni, however, said the suspects would be arraigned after completion of the investigation.